Tis the Season to Be Jolly

Thanksgiving feast fit for three kings and three queens

Aydan enjoying ALL the food!

Maryn (in center) singing in her Madrigal group....

.....and doing a jazz solo with the jazz band....fantastic!Bret and Shawn looking for a good tree...

.....and Maryn excited about the choice!Aydan helps Bret in cutting the tree.Wow! It looks great.....all decorated...even though a little fat...Aydan "showing off" the entry way decorations in his hat...The Christmas toilet seat "project"...."Happy to see you, have a seat".........Whoa!!.....just a bit too much to share!Baking and decorating Christmas cookiesOur Christmas mascot....Carrot, Aydan's bunny...
"Sole, sole, sole cake, please good missus, a sole cake...an apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry. One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all..."

Aahhhhhh, christmas caroling....

I love this particular christmas carol and I LOVE singing it with my children.

A capella, of course, in three part harmony...each part coming in on a new verse. Then, that sharp emphasis on "an apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry..." ....the rythmn has to be perfect...

I love the snow, and the crisp air....

I love the playing of cheesy Christmas carols starting after Thanksgiving,
even though I can't stand that "Momma's New Shoes" one----that is just sick and wrong...

I love getting presents for my family....excited when they will open them and hoping that they will like them...

I love the nativity scenes in people's yards, even though everyone is always trying to take Christ out of Christmas...

I love going to cut a tree with my family...in the cold, and the fact that they always humor me and try to find a skinny, "Charlie Brown" tree, because those are the kind that I love.....(except this year, and they talked me into a fat tree---ooohhhh, so difficult to string with lights!.....I just call it the "fat pig" tree)

I love how people seem happier, on the whole, at this time, and really try to be patient in lines, etc.....even though there is always one jerk there...the rest of us just smile at each other and know that we are the cool ones and aren't upset by the wait...

I glorify in being a mother, wife and G-mom at this time of the year, as I think more of my blessings, and babies, and the Christchild, and the miracle of his birth...

I love leading the choir in church at this time...everyone comes out and I have a HUGE choir, and everyone sings so very well and loves all the music....its a good feeling...

I love decorating my apartment or house or where ever I am living at the time...
Everything looks better with lights and garland on it...and red is one of my favorite colors...

I love to go to the school "holiday" concerts, where I can see one of my children sing, and feel proud when Maryn does a fantastic job singing her solo! ....And I love it in New England because the choir teacher is not afraid to sing songs about Jesus....like in California... :(

I love how I get letters, Christmas cards, and photos from friends and family who are STILL sending them, and deserve to go into the catagory of "uber-perfect" person....as they still use snail mail....

I love the traditions of the season...going to get the tree, picking out a new ornament each year, adding a Santa to my collection each year, Christmas baking Saturday, (which was only Aydan and I this year...rather difficult), caroling with my children on the Sunday night before Christmas for at least four hours and loving it!.....and working with Aydan on our "projects" for Christmas presents, or for the house...(refer to the Snowman toilet cover above... :) )

I feel so blessed at this time of year to have a wonderful family, an awesome husband, and so many great friends......

Thank you all for your friendship, your constant support, and for just being you!

MAY YOU HAVE A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A GLORIOUS NEW YEAR!!

Hailey "Bun-Buns"

Hailey--------------at age 10!
...in the production of "Bye, Bye Birdie" in junior high
Singing her heart out in "The Music Man" in high school
High School graduation and a new hairdo!

The famous model engagement shot...

Ben, Hailey and Mila above and Hailey with Mila Hailey with Ethan as a baby----bathing beauties!
Canoeing fun---with Ethan

Hailey doing what she enjoys the most-----eating!
Ethan and Hailey at his first birthday
Mila, on her first day of Kindergarten
Adorable little Ethan----now almost three!
Hailey this last Halloween with a dinosaur and a princess!
Hailey and Ethan at the infamous corn maze...(refer to her blog)
Hailey and Ben at a wedding...

...And her 10 year high school reunion----still the "model" couple!

I decided to write about each of the kids separately, to let everyone know what is going on in their lives and how I view each child individually....... Now, I have to add a disclaimer here, as I am very biased in thinking that my children are the best in the world, so bear with me.....

My oldest child is Hailey. She is now 28 years old and has a husband and two kids and lives in Highland, Utah. She is a very witty gal, and you can see just how funny she is, if you visit her website at www.haileytracks.com

She arrived late in the day in May---5:30 p.m., to be exact, after 22 hours of labor, and MY first words to the doctor were "Are her ears attached or unattached?", and then I promptly fell asleep. I was exhausted, as you can imagine!

From the very beginning, I could tell that Hailey was a special girl. She started sleeping through the night when she was a month old, and ate only every 4 to 5 hours during the day. She was a happy baby and the most beautiful thing that you could imagine!

As she grew, she showed early signs of extreme inquisitiveness, and loved to perform. She talked very early, asked thousands of questions, started reading when she was 4 years old, and sang her first solo in front of a church audience that same year. She was like a little adult. In fact, most of my friends would always ask of me, "Who's the Mom and who's the child?" because I was much more immature than her. She would often lecture me if I was wearing too freaky of an outfit, as she was very conservative in her dress, and I am........well, lets just say, I've NEVER been conservative.....

We moved a lot as Hailey was growing up, and she never seemed to mind. She adjusted very well and always rose to the occasion with her best foot forward. When we moved to California as she went into high school, she came home and told me that her English class was so easy that she "could teach it"! I immediately went down to the school office and fought for her to test out of the class.

She also has a beautiful singing voice. I used to work with her on her voice and she didn't always want to listen,....and was very stubborn about doing what I suggested... Then, one day, she tried my suggestions,...what I had been saying kicked in and "Voila!"....she was eventually able to get the power and control that she wanted.

So, now you may ask "What is this perfect speciman of a child doing as an adult?" Well, Hailey graduated from BYU,.....after 4 years on an academic scholarship,....in Dramatic Arts, and is now practicing her craft. She married Ben Smith, and as I said before, have two gorgeous children. Her husband is good looking, and their engagement picture looked like a model shot...as everyone mentions when they see it.

Hailey has been a part of Comedy Sportz in Provo, Utah for several years. Its an improvisational comedy troupe, and is great fun to watch! She just got awarded "The Funniest Female in Utah County" by a local magazine,...even though she tells me that its because there ARE no other female comediennes in Utah County...but I think she deserved the title....

She also does musicals and plays when she can----even with two kids and a household to take care of! She currently just got cast in "Much Ado About Nothing" and is excited, but a little scared about doing Shakespeare. She did "Lucky Stiffs" and "See How They Run" for the Hale Center Theater in Orem, and "Moon Over Buffalo" and this new play for the Provo Theater. I know that she did quite a few plays in college, but my favorite one was "An Ideal Husband". She always amazes me with her transformations and has come a long way from "Oklahoma" and "The Music Man" in high school.

Now just when you were thinking that Hailey is too perfect for words, I have to say that she inherited my terrible temper... She definitely observed and learned how I blow up for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then after I have "gotten it off my chest"----I am over it and am fine... Case in point----Hailey with her adorable children. Mila and Ethan look like angels, but are very incorrigible, and push Hailey to the limit! So, I must admit that when she loses it with her kids----and I am there visiting----I have to smile, as I see her sounding just like me! Poor girl........its a burden to carry such a terrible habit!

Over all, Hailey is a delight to be around, and I love her so very much! She is a great wife, mother, daughter, friend, sister, cousin, and overall person! I must admit that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her and wish that she were closer....

My dream is that someday we will live close enough to each other to run a theater together.....but....unfortunately, I realize that its just an idea that will always be a fantasy......

What We Did For Our Summer Vacation

Bret and I at my party (interesting hat choice...)

Brinna and I----at my surprise party!

Clayton at my party!
Aydan, selling lemonade in front of our apartment... and with the fish HE
caught! Bocce Ball tournament (Aydan and Bret on the left)
The Handke Bahe Family in Kansas
The Cannon Family in Montana!
Aydan and I panning for goldEthan, my little G-baby, camping!
My G-babies Ethan and Mila with Aydan
Maryn, with her new haircut...

I promised that I would start a blog for the "fam", since I can't seem to do a newsletter anymore and I don't EVER get around to Christmas cards!! So, I decided to jump right in and give you a short pictoral look at our family now and our summer activities... After my birthday in June (the picture with me in the boa), and 4th of July in Maine, (where I sang backup for a Rod Stewart impersonator)....we attended two family reunions, and drove about 6500 miles---driving in our "Little Blue Ice"---the Matrix. This after getting to the car rental place to pick up our van----two hours before we were supposed to leave and finding out that they wouldn't let us take it out of the state! Note to all: READ THE SO-CALLED FINE PRINT!

We hung with Bret's family in Kansas and then on to Utah, then on to Montana with my family and back home again... Fun times were had by and with all!!....and I FROZE in Montana...